Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Happy Leap Day!!! An extra 24 hours in your year!!! Did you treat it like any other day or do something special? I hate to admit that to me it was just other day. My husband did something special...he got the flu...poor guy. But to look on the bright side...he didn't waste a whole day being sick :-) Love you honey!!!

Here is my latest project. I have been wanting to do a treatment like this on a drop leaf table for a long time.

It is inspired by vintage dish cloths. Why No. 12? I really just picked it out but my daughter saw more significance to the number...she is 12 :-) Then I got to thinking...my husband is the 12th child in his family. Maybe there was more to it than I realized.

I never know how much I will distress a piece until it begins. I don't think I've ever distressed one quite this much. Did I go too far? That has been my fear, however, the more I live with it the more I like it. Lots of texture...yummy! It looks like it's been around for a long, long time.

With old tables like this, I find myself wondering about it's history. Who has previously owned the table? What were the happy times that took place around it? How many fabulous meals were eaten here? Oh, if this table could talk!

I continue to keep my word of the year "GROW" in the back of my head. And with that in mind I have some new, fun and exciting things happening in the near future. I will expound on those more in future posts...stay tuned!

Have a great week and thanks for reading!!! I love comments so leave one if you have the time.

Monday, February 6, 2012

This is my nephew Paulie. Isn't he adorable? I love doing projects for Paulie. I painted the argyle wall behind his bed this past summer. He was spending the week at his grandparents while I was working on it and when he got home he said "That's pretty good." Gosh I love that kid!

I found this headboard at a garage sale many months ago and knew right away it was for Paulie and RED was the color.

P is for Paulie. I really wanted to finish the rest of his name in a fun script but my ever sensible sister thought it would be too immature as he got older...ugh. But I've got to keep my clients happy...ha!

Paulie's argyle wall is so clean, straight and sharp so I wanted to shabby things up a bit :-)

I really like how the dark color of the wood shows through the distressed paint. It pops wonderfully!!!

Ummmm...I think he likes his new headboard. Of course this has nothing to do with the fact that I gave him permission to jump on his bed...a big "no, no" when mom is around :-) But that's what aunt's are for...right???

Paulie, I hope you really, really like your new headboard. I love you buddy!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

OK.....so I'm gonna say something that rarely comes out of my mouth.....my husband was right :-) And to quote Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock from the movie The Blind Side (one of our favorite movies of all time) Tim: "How did that taste coming out of your mouth?" Sandra: "Like vinegar."

This table has been sooooooo close to completion for months and I just kept working around it...not loving it, not knowing what to do to love it and therefore letting it sit, and sit, and sit. As you can see it's big and it took up a lot of space in my little workshop. You'd think that would have spurred me on...but no. My hubby kept saying "It looks great the way it is." Just wax it up and be done...this is where "he's right" comes in...ugh

I listened to him and now I LOVE it. It didn't need anything else but the creativity of those drawing on the chalkboard top! How fun!

As I mentioned earlier, this table is big. It's 3 ft by 3 ft. I figured there could be several people (or kiddos) at a time drawing on the table. And thinking like a mom; perhaps splitting up the drawing areas would be a good idea.

Have you noticed I'm really into drawing on furniture? I'm glad my kids are old enough to know when you CAN draw on a table and when you CANNOT. Otherwise it could get real ugly. My kids are awesome artists so I'm often inspired by them.

I love the chunky bulbous shape of these legs. They're just plain pretty :-) I added a little distressing.....and yummmmy!!!

The color of this table is ASCP Arles; such a pretty sunny yellow. As much as it might hurt, I will post this on my Items for Sale page. It needs a good home :-)

Hi, I'm Colleen, an artist at heart and have earned a living as a self-employed graphic designer for many years. I love painting, decorating, thrift store shopping and making old things beautiful again. Now I'm making my passion my career. Come along for the ride.